The Modlin aiport - which opened last summer to take much of the budget airline traffic previously handled by Warsaw Chopin International Airport – will remain closed until the repair works on the damaged runway have been fully completed, Jaromir Grabowski from the Regional Building Inspectorate said on Tuesday.

Just before Christmas, cracks appeared on the airstrip at the new airport 50 kilometers from Warsaw, which opened to commercial traffic in the summer of 2012.

Amid safety concerns the Regional Building Inspectorate ordered then the cracked runaway to be shortened to 1,500 meters from 2,500 meters. The reduced runway length meant that Modlin could not accept Boeing 737 aircraft. Low-cost airlines were forced to redirect their traffic to Warsaw Chopin Airport.

It is not yet known when flights can resume at the Modlin airport which normally handles around 20 flights and an average of 5,000 passengers daily.